Australian World Superbike Wild Cards Prepared For Battle On Their Home Track (Updated)

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Glenn Allerton (14).

Australiaâ€™s World Superbike wildcards will leave nothing in the tank when it comes to competing in front of a home crowd at Phillip Island this weekend.

The Grand Prix circuit hosts the opening round of the World Superbike Championship, and regulation changes have allowed a handful of QBE Australian Superbike Championship contenders to put their hand up for a grid spot.

Next Gen Motorsportâ€™s Glenn Allerton and Team Honda Racingâ€™s Jamie Stauffer have each secured a start for the Superbike races, while Staufferâ€™s younger teammate Josh Hook will campaign an entry in the Supersport field.

Two-time ASBK Champion Glenn Allerton has put his BMW through its paces during this weekâ€™s intensive two-day test and, despite some early setbacks, is quietly confident ahead of the first official practice sessions tomorrow.

He finished 13th outright on the timesheet with a competitive 1m32.159s lap versus the leaderâ€™s 1m31.059s effort.

â€œOn the opening day we had a few overheating problems with the bike I am going to race so had to use the standard bike for much of the day,â€ explained Allerton.

â€œThere was a sprinkling of rain on Tuesday morning which slowed us up a bit but by the afternoon we had the overheating issue worked out and managed to get some good clear laps in.

â€œI was within a second of the leaders and felt I got held up a bit by (Sylvain) Guintoli on my best flying lap so there is more to come.

â€œFor the limited time weâ€™ve had on the bike and considering things like the new surface and a new tyre we arenâ€™t doing too badly.â€

Allerton concedes he may not have the straight-line speed of the leaders but is hoping to make time back in other areas of the track.

â€œItâ€™s only a 22-lap race so itâ€™s going to be important to start well and find any advantage in the early laps,â€ he continued.

â€œI know I am not going to have the straight line speed of the leading guys, thatâ€™s a given, but I feel like I am able to make some time up on them in the corners so thatâ€™s what Iâ€™ve been focusing on.â€

Stauffer and his Team Honda Racing outfit have used the two-day test to learn more about the WSBK-spec bike and make the necessary adjustments to bring it up to speed.

He shadowed Allerton on the overall timesheets, coming in 14th fastest with a best lap of 1m32.231s.

â€œWeâ€™ve found a good direction with the bike but are still looking for more improvements in lap time,â€ said Stauffer.

â€œEach time weâ€™re learning more and more about the bike, each lap is helping us to determine whether weâ€™re moving forward or not.

â€œThe surface is definitely different â€“ there is more grip overall but I was surprised to find that there are a few bigger bumps.

â€œThe bike is very different to our ASBK machine in that we are able to change a lot more things. Itâ€™s been a big learning curve for myself and the team but weâ€™re really enjoying doing something different.

â€œWeâ€™ll know more about where weâ€™re placed after tomorrowâ€™s sessions but after all of the feedback and data I think weâ€™ll only be moving forward.â€

The Superbike class will contest a 45-minute practice session tomorrow prior to two 45-minute qualifying sessions split across Friday and Saturday.

The final grid positions will be decided in the single-rider Superpole laps on Saturday afternoon before Sundayâ€™s two 22-lap races.

In the World Supersport field, Josh Hook ended the two-day test on the cusp of the top 10, a 1.34.607s lap placing him 11th and in the mix with some incredibly talented company.

2012 Motul Australian Supersport Champion Mitchell Carr, who will campaign a full season in World Supersport this year, was 25th fastest after the final session.

The Supersport field will contest a series of practice and qualifying sessions across Friday and Saturday before Sundayâ€™s pair of 21-lap races.

More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing:

Wildcards Ready for World Superbike Event

Team Honda Racing have completed the official World Superbike test at Phillip Island this week and show very promising times leading into the event to be held on February 22-24.

Entering the World Superbike races as a Wildcard and racing under #21 for the event, Jamie Stauffer recorded his best testing lap time on day 2 of the test with a 1:32.255 sec which placed him 14th fastest and provided a solid base from which to start the event on Friday for free practice. Testing on the new Pirelli tyres on a resurfaced Phillip Island circuit made the test on Monday and Tuesday all the more critical for the competing riders and gave all a valuable opportunity to prepare ahead of the weekend.

Stauffer: â€œThe 2-day test with the World Superbike competitors on Monday and Tuesday was a great chance to get more comfortable on the new track surface and also the Pirelli tyres. Our pace was good although I did come off on Monday on a fairly bumpy part of the track, but overall we made some fantastic headway. Tuesday was strong and my lap times were improving. We are going to try a couple of changes to the bike set-up going into free practice on Friday of the event, but the Honda CBR1000RR is looking promising in the 2 World Superbike races.â€

Team Honda Racingâ€™s Josh Hook who can be seen circulating around Phillip Island with a number 16 on his bike is also competing as a Wildcard and could not be more excited. Josh will race to his current strength onboard a Honda CBR600RR in the World Supersport race.

Hook: â€œI am really happy with where we are at after the 2 days of testing at Phillip Island. The CBR600RR that the team has given me is a terrific package. My lap times were strong and I know we are going to continue to bring the times down on Friday during free practice. I feel really comfortable on the bike and I am very excited about the event on the weekend.â€

The team have 2 days to continue preparations on the Hondaâ€™s and set a solid plan for the event ahead of free practice on Friday. The Team Honda Racing Wildcards are more than ready to race!